This invention relates to boom trucks. Here boom trucks are referred to as motor vehicles licensed to operate on the public roads which typically are based upon a commercial truck chassis (manufactured by a truck manufacturer and available for a large variety of uses such as flat bed trucks, dump trucks, moving van trucks, etc.) and a boom truck crane structure (manufactured by a crane manufacturer) and attached to the commercial truck chassis. The present invention relates more specifically to boom trucks with front stabilizers which are splayed forward, such that they extend forward and outward when deployed from a position behind the cab of the boom truck. U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,960 to Pitman et al. shows a boom truck with an X shaped stabilizer pattern.
The X shaped stabilizer pattern has the stabilizers mounted on a heavy sub-base support structure which is itself mounted to the frame of a commercial truck chassis. This heavy sub-base structure adds substantial weight to the boom truck crane structure. This additional weight results in higher manufacturing costs for the boom truck crane structure, a higher center of gravity (which is particularly important when being driven on a roadway) it also reduces the extent of the ability of the final vehicle to carry commercial loads.
Consequently, there is a need for improvement in boom truck stability.